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Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani says he finds it "pretty darn credible" that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie didn't know about an apparently politically motivated plan to create traffic jams near the George Washington Bridge, even as another lawmaker said the actions were criminal.

Speaking Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Giuliani says candidates "miss a lot of things" in the heat of political campaigns.

Fellow Republican Christie was way ahead in his race for a second term when his deputy chief of staff gave the go-ahead for closing two lanes to the bridge, backing up traffic for hours in Fort Lee.

Christie political adviser Bill Stepien is a former Giuliani staffer and was among four people to lose their jobs over the scandal.

Democrats, however, maintain the lane closings were political retribution against a Democratic mayor.

Appearing Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," Assemblyman John Wisniewski, a Democrat who is leading the state investigation into the scandal, says using a public resource such as the George Washington Bridge for political retribution violates federal and state laws.

Wisniewski says it "strains credibility" that the hands-on governor wasn't told by senior advisers who received emails about the closings.